Progress......

Double Yahoooooo! First, after a long rainy season in Ethiopia the courts are open. For those of us following the progress of Ethiopian adoptions the court closure has felt like forever. Congratulations Mestas, big sister Ellie and Evangeline Grace for being one step closer to your little ones. I will keep you in my prayers and hope all will go well during your Friday court date. The second reason to celebrate is my dossier is complete and will make a quick stop in DC and then be off to Ethiopia. I received this email from Mary today-
Kate informed me that your dossier to ready to be sent to D.C. today! That is great news!
So once your dossier reaches Ethiopia , Belay will have your dossier translated into Amharic. As soon as it is translated, he will have it submitted to the courts. I will contact you once we have a court date set for you.

I'm guessing a November 15th court date and traveling the last week of Nov./first week of Dec. Anyone have an over/under?

I've had tons of support lately to assist with adoption costs. There have been four special families giving $1000. donations, Jen, Jeff and Maddie (love ya and hope to see you soon), one of Jeff's coworkers (WOW!!!, the kindness of strangers is the best), Bob, my mom's coworker (now known as Uncle Bob) and my Grandmom Mc Gee (you rock, Gram). Thank you so much to everyone who has helped out and purchased a raffle ticket or tickets. There are still some available. My mom and cousin will be selling them until the end of the month or until we sell 275. Think, Maui, beaches, surfing, relaxing, sun, hiking, waterfalls. I promise to make it the trip of a lifetime and you'll get to see my two little cuties. I also found out last week that I will be receiving a $2000. grant through Gladney's Ashenefi's Gift! Thank you Gladney and grant organizers. Asking for financial assistance has been a humbling experience but I just keep reminding myself that it's not about me but about the girls. The outpouring of love and support is so overwhelming and keeps me motivated when the wait seems never ending. Maya Kozit and Tsebay Grace thank you as well. How sweet will it be to finally see them together.

Tsebay is growing and continues to be very verbal. Her favorite activity is to be read to. She will sit and attend for as long as someone is willing to read. She can be totally fussy but will calm down as soon as you open a book. She turns the pages and verbalizes when she sees certain pictures. She loves animals. Her two favorites are cat and duck. These are two of her first words. She has a tooth coming in on the bottom. I have felt it but don't get to see it too often. Her tongue is still out most of the time and I think it's even more so now that there is a tooth to check out. Tsebay loves music. She enjoyed some Irish tunes last night at Mulligans and enjoys entertaining us with her drum. Here are some pics of my little darling in action. She is so ready to crawl but just can't manage to go forward.